Stay With Me
by Forgotten not Lost
Summary: After Zell is captured on a mission can Seifer hold him together?
1. Mission

Zell Dincht, please report to my office. I repeat, Zell Dincht, please report to my office.

Zell looked up from his food as his name was called over the intercom.

"Oh, looks like Chicken Wuss is in trouble."

Zell glared at his tormentor as he stood up. "Shove it Seifer.

Seifer's mocking laughter followed Zell as he left the cafeteria. 'I can't believe they let him back in the garden and they made him a SeeD too! I know he was being controlled during the Sorceress Wars but... aaargh! He's such an ass!' he sighed and unclenched his fists. 'I wonder what Xu wants.'

Zell knocked on the door to the headmistress's office.

"Come in."

Zell entered the office and closed the door behind him. Xu got directly to the point.

"I have a mission for you. The president of Esthar has heard a rumor that someone is planning to assassinate him. You and two others are to go and find out who is behind these tumors and stop them." She threw three folders on the desk. "These are the mission specs. There is a copy for each of you. Your team members are listed on the inside. Dismissed."

Zell picked up the folders and looked in the top one. He froze and turned back to Xu.

"What is it Zell?"

"Seifer's name is in here."

"I know."

"I can't work with him."

Xu stood up from behind her desk and glared at him. "You can and will Zell or I'll demote you. Now go. You leave tomorrow morning at 0800 hours."

Zell clenched his jaw and walked out of the room. Storming into the elevator, he opened the folder and smiled slightly at whom else was on there. 'Selphie. Heh, this might not be so bad. However, I have to wonder why the three of us were chosen for this mission. Squall and Quistis would be much better suited. So would Irvine.'

Xu looked up as the door to her office opened again and smiled at the tall blonde who entered.

"Hello Quistis."

She reached up, pulled the woman down into her lap, and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.

"What's the matter?"

"Are you sure it's a good idea to put those three together?"

"Zell and Seifer are good SeeDs. They just need to learn to get along."

"What about Selphie?"

"She's a good mediator. Plus she can fly the ragnarok."

"If you think it's a good idea…" Quistis sighed and stood up. "Well I have a class to go teach. I'll see you this evening?"

Xu nodded and smiled as she watched her lover leave the room. 'I hope I made the right decision.'

Zell walked back into the cafeteria and a flash of yellow caught his eye. He smiled as he reached the table that Selphie was sharing with Irvine. The cowboy looked up at his approach.

"Hey Zell."

"Hi Zelly!"

Zell flashed a smile at them and placed a folder in front of the little brunette.

"Oh, a mission!" Selphie opened the folder and giggled. Irvine raised an eyebrow at her and she showed him the folder. He winced and shot Zell a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry man. That's got to suck."

"You don't have to tell me that. Speaking of… where **is **Seifer Well I'll see you guys later. We leave at 0800 Selphie. Don't forget."

"I won't!"

Irvine chuckled at the perky brunette and she pouted at him. Zell shook his head at the two and took another look around the cafeteria. He spotted Fuujin and Raijin leaving and jogged up to them. The pair stopped when Zell cut them off.

"Where's Seifer?"

"Why should we tell you?"

"Because he's got a mission, that's why."

"TRAINING."

Raijin looked at the woman in shock, "Why did you tell them? Ow!"

Fuujin smacked Raijin on the head. "STUPID."

Zell headed towards the training center after dropping his own folder off in his dorm. There was a scowl on his face as he entered the wooded area.

'Why me? Now where is the bastard?'

He heard the roar of a T-Rexaur nearby and saw Seifer come running towards him followed by not one, but two, of the monsters. Zell's eyes widened.

'Holy Hyne. **Two**?'

Seifer spun around and brought his gunblade in an upward arch removing the T-Rexaurs head. As it disappeared, the other roared. Turning towards it, he saw its claws coming towards him when an icicle flew over his shoulder, piercing the creature's neck. Seifer spun around and glared at the martial artist.

"Nobody asked for your help."

"Seifer!"

Zell started running towards him and Seifer's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing?"

He then felt the thrashing monster's tail slam into him, flinging him into Zell. The folder flew out of Zell's hand as they crashed to the ground. Seifer opened his eyes to find his face barely two inches from the smaller blonde's. Zell's eyes widened and he blushed fiercely.

"Get off!"

Zell squirmed, bringing Seifer's attention to the fact that the gunblader was resting snugly between his legs. They heard someone approach them and looked up to see the smirking face of Quistis.

"Comfy? And I thought you two didn't get along."

Seifer jumped to his feet. "What are you doing here Trepe?"

"Teaching."

Zell's face flushed beet red and he jumped to his feet, walking quickly out of the room. The shocked students watched him leave the training center. Seifer snarled and began to stalk away when Quistis snapped her arm out to stop him.

"Don't forget this."

Seifer snarled again as he snatched the folder from her before he too left. Quistis smirked again as she watched him exit.

'Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to put them together on a mission.'

As the blonde woman regained her class's attention, she made a mental note to share this incident with a certain little brunette.


	2. Matchmaker

A/N: -'...'- is GF thoughts and -"..."- is GF speech

Sorry about the wait for the chapter. I have been banished from my computer at home until the first of February so I am posting this chapter at a friends house. If you find the chapters short then... well... all I have to say is that the chapters end where ever they end so some will be short or longer than others... lol.

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Zell glared at the blonde gunblader as he approached. "You're late." 

Seifer opened his mouth to make a scathing reply when Selphie interrupted him.

"Yay! Seify is here! Away we go!"

The perky brunette grabbed Zell's wrist and drug him into the Ragnarok behind her.

They had just reached the halfway point when Zell stood up and began to stretch.

"I'm surprised. The Chicken Wuss managed to go so long without moving."

Zell glared at the taller man as he too stood up and began to stretch. "Shut up Seifer!"

Seifer stalked up to the small blonde and glared down at him. "Make me."

Selphie chose that moment to jerk up on the controls. Zell stumbled forward into Seifer, the man's arm automatically wrapping around his waist to stabilize them.

"Dammit Tilmit."

She looked over her should at the two and giggled. "Sorry."

"No you're not and what is so funny?"

"Nothing." She looked over at them one more time and giggle again. Seifer raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. "You two look cute together."

Zell groaned and placed his forehead on Seifer's chest. He rested there for a second before he pushed away and took his seat.

"Real subtle Selphie. It's not going to happen."

"What's not going to happen?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

The brunette looked over her shoulder at Seifer. He was staring blankly at the spot where Zell's forehead had been. Feeling Selphie's gaze on him, he glared at her and took his seat. She turned her gaze back to the approaching mountains and saw a faint blush on Zell's cheeks out of the corner of her eye.

'Not gonna happen? We'll see about that Zelly. We'll see.'

They landed in Esthar a couple of hours later without further incident. Zell watched Selphie bound out of the aircraft.

"Sir Laguna!"

Hello Selphie- oof!"

"Better go and rescue the poor man." Zell walked out of the plane. "Selphie let him go! We're here to protect him not kill him!"

Seifer shook his head and followed the martial artist outside. He was greeted by a smiling Laguna as he stepped out of the Ragnarok.

"Ah, Seifer. Good afternoon." Seifer grunted and looked away. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to your quarters."

They followed the president into the building, Selphie walking beside him chattering away happily. He led them into a moderately sized living room. He gestured to the doors.

"There are your rooms."

Selphie ran into the room and opened the door to each bedroom, before settling on the one in the middle. Seifer arched his eyebrow at her before he walked into the room at the right and closed the door.

"I guess that means I get the room on the left."

Laguna laughed and patted the young man on the shoulder. "I'll come by later and see how you guys are settling in."

"Wait. I'll go with you. You shouldn't be wandering around alone."

As they were about to leave Selphie popped her head out of her room. "Zelly!"

Zell blinked as she grabbed his hand and drug him into his room. She rushed back into the living room. Grabbing his bags she placed them on the floor of his room.

"Selphie what are you doing?"

She merely grinned at him as she ran out of their quarters dragging the president behind her.

"What was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"That thing with Zell. What was that about?"

"Oh. That." The tiny brunette began to giggle. "Just giving Zell and Seifer some time alone together."

"Oh..."

"They would make a cute couple don't you think?"

"Er..."

"Maybe when we get back they will be cuddling together on the couch."

She giggled at the mental image that sentence caused. Laguna stared at her and then chuckled.

"Don't get ahead of yourself."

"I can't help it. Where are we going anyway?"

"My office. I have some paperwork to finish."

Something caught Zell's eye as he removed the last of his things from his bag. He pulled out the envelope and blinked at the handwriting on it.

'Why would Quistis put this in my bag? What's in it?'

He turned the envelope upside down and a small pale blue orb rolled out onto the bed along with a piece of paper. He picked up the paper and smiled.

Squall knew you have been without a GF for

some time now so he said to give you this.

Congratulations on getting your first assignment

as mission leader.

Quistis Trepe

Zell shivered as he felt a wave of cold travel up his arm before settling behind his eyes. He turned his focus inward.

'Hello. Shiva right? Welcome to my mind.'

The ice goddess was startled from her task of junctioning magic at his voice. It took her a second to register his words.

-"Greetings master."-

'Why did Squall give you up? I would think that you would suit him perfectly.' Zell's eyes widened. 'Oops. Sorry...'

Shiva's serious face broke into a small smile and she chuckled. -"Do not worry about it child."-

Shiva shook her head and continued junctioning. -'This is going to be interesting. He seems to be a nice boy. Perhaps a little naïve...'-

Zell went into the living room and sat on the coach for a few minutes before he could not stand it any more and he jumped up and began to shadow box.

Seifer placed the last of his stuff in the drawers and walked back into the living room. The first thing he saw was Zell in the middle of the room shadowboxing. His gaze traveled along the fighter's lean, muscled form and caught himself when his gaze reached an inappropriate place.

'What am I doing checking out the chicken wuss?'

"You just cannot sit still can you? The Ragnarok must have been a fluke." Seifer smirked as Zell's eyes narrowed and he began to shake with rage. "Awww... did I make the chicken angry?"

"Stop making fun of me!"

"Am I hurting the poor little chicken's feelings?"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Make me."

Zell snarled just as the door opened.

"Hi! Are you guys having fun?" Selphie stopped in her tracks when she saw Seifer's smirk and the red shade of Zell's face. 'I guess Laguna was right about getting ahead of myself.'

"What's the matter Zelly? Seify?"

"Chicken Wuss is freaking out."

"Stop calling me that!"

Laguna calmly stepped in between the two teens. "How about we forget all of this and have a nice lunch?"

Zell's face slowly returned to it's normal colour. "Alright. We still need to talk about night watch arrangements."


	3. Back to Garden

A/N: Sorry this is so short! My chapter lengths are slightly erratic aren't they? I'll get chapter four out as soon as I can but I was suffering a case of writer's block so it's only about two-thirds finished. I would like a beta this fic starting with next chapter because I'm stepping into territory that makes me a little nervous. I'm getting into the n/c so I would prefer someone who has written some before or at least familiar with it. If you're interested send me an E-Mail.

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Zell sighed and shifted in his chair, looking at Laguna out of the corner of one eye. They had decided they would take turns keeping watch at night. When Laguna woke up in the morning, Zell would escort him to the SeeDs room and one of the others would take over. He glanced at the clock on the wall.

'Damn. Only twelve o' clock. It's only been two hours.'

Zell's attention had just begun to wander when a sound outside the window got his attention. Silently crossing the room, he gently shook Laguna awake. The man blinded sleepily at him. The tattooed blonde held a finger to his lips. Laguna instantly became awake and nodded quietly following Zell towards the door. They were halfway across the room when the window slid open and two figures slipped into the room. One of the shadowed figures cursed in an obviously male voice.

"Hurry!"

Zell ripped the door open and shoved Laguna into the hallway. Turning, he swung his fist and the two assassins stepped quickly out of his range.

"Go to Seifer and Selphie!"

Zell hit the smaller of the two in the side of the knee with a low kick and they fell down with a gasp.

'A woman?'

He quickly slammed his palm into the man's chest and he fell down onto the ground with a grunt. Zell flew down the hall after the president. He heard footsteps following him and swung his fist as he pivoted around. He stopped in mid-swing with a gasp when he recognized the person.

"What-"

He cut off as he felt a blow connect with the back of his head and he fell with a groan to the ground unconscious.

"What are SeeD doing here?"

The woman shook her head silently not having an answer.

Seifer shot out of his room, Hyperion in hand, Selphie coning out of her own room seconds later with her nunchaku. He halted promptly when he saw Laguna.

"What's happening?"

"A-assassins." Laguna bent over trying to catch his breath.

"Already? Hyne, we just got here. Tilmit stay here with the president."

He heard a groan as he approached the door, but when he entered the hallway, he did not see anyone.

"What the-? Where are they?" Seifer walked back into the room. "There's no one out there."

"But Zell was right behind me."

Selphie gasped, "Shit." Seifer raised his eyebrows at her in mild surprise as the curse left her lips. "The assassins have him. We have to take Laguna back with us to the garden and inform Squall."

"Oh, great. Leonhart."

"We have to. It's part of our orders."

"Where does it say we have to run back to Leonhart?"

"It says so on the third page. 'In cases of emergency, for the safety of the client and SeeD, they must return immediately to Garden and await further instruction."

Seifer sent the brunette a withering glare before stalking back to his room to pack.


End file.
